


for the win

by chanson



Category: HOTSHOT (Band), NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Otome Game, Fluff, M/M, Pining, all the clichés in one fic, but it’s the one that you get, cloudwink bros, not the hwangcloud fic we deserve, this was honestly just an excuse to write sungwoon and jihoon as brothers, truly tooth-rotting be warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-11 03:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12926853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanson/pseuds/chanson
Summary: Sungwoon knows that some things are too good to be true. Minhyun is one of them.(In which Sungwoon wants what he can’t have, but wastes a lot of time trying anyway.)





	for the win

**Author's Note:**

> because hwangcloud is thriving lately, but their ao3 tag unfortunately isn’t. 
> 
> i found this rather tricky to write (mostly because minhyun and sungwoon's interactions in real life are far better than anything my imagination can think up) and the end result is kind of a mess, but i hope you'll accept my humble contribution anyway. 
> 
> unbeta’d so i apologize for the mistakes and inaccuracies. also the summary is probably misleading, but rest assured this is an angst-free zone.

Like most of Sungwoon’s missteps, it begins with good intentions.

Sungwoon decides to spend the weekend at home because he is a filial son and he misses his family. Also, Taehyun’s “friend” from Japan is crashing at their place for a few days and Taehyun had strongly hinted that Sungwoon should make himself scarce.

Sungwoon doesn’t mind though because A) that’s just the sort of awesome friend he is, and B) even though his childhood home is a mere thirty minute ride by subway, it’s been weeks since he’s visited it. University is fun, but there’s nothing that soothes the soul quite like his dad’s cooking, his mom’s warm hugs, and of course, his favorite pastime, annoying his little brother.

It’s currently 11:00 am on a Sunday. After letting Jihoon sleep in for a few extra hours, Sungwoon had finally grown impatient and barged into Jihoon’s room to shake him awake so they could have some quality brother bonding time. Said younger brother now sits on his bed and flips lazily through his math textbook while Sungwoon is seated at the desktop computer. Sungwoon is supposed to be working on a paper for his political science course, but in reality he is snooping around.

Playing the big brother card has lost its effectiveness now that Jihoon is older and the last residual bits of brother worship have finally dissipated. Not to mention that Jihoon has shot past Sungwoon in height, so Sungwoon can’t even noogie him into submission anymore. It’s distressing, frankly, and Sungwoon is in desperate need of blackmail material if he hopes for a future in which his brother actually listens to him.

This is why Sungwoon is presently scouring Jihoon's computer for even a hint of a weakness that he can exploit. After fifteen minutes of pestering Jihoon with questions about his browser history (all of which Jihoon skillfully evades), Sungwoon moves onto Jihoon’s Documents folder. It’s here that he finally strikes gold.

“What is ' _Wanna Be My Baby'_?” Sungwoon crows, delighted. He spins the chair around to face Jihoon. “Did someone make you a mix cd? That’s so cute.”

Jihoon looks up from his textbook just long enough to roll his eyes. “You’re so behind the times, hyung. No one does that anymore.”

“It’s not my fault your generation has forgotten the concept of romantic courtship.”

“Like you’re one to talk. You haven’t gone on a date in months, what do you know about courtship?”

Sungwoon narrows his eyes. “How do you know this?”

“People tell me things,” Jihoon responds with a triumphant smirk.

See, this is exactly why Sungwoon needs blackmail material. Jihoon is already this insolent and he’s not even a full-fledged adult yet. His brother has _spies_ for chrissakes.

Since Jihoon isn’t giving him anything, Sungwoon clicks on the title to open it. To his surprise, a bright pink loading screen pops up. A few seconds later, a pretty anime girl surrounded by flower petals appears along with the simple caption: _‘Can you help me find The One?’_

“Since when do you play otome games?” Sungwoon asks, baffled. Jihoon has always had weird interests, but his taste in games tends towards the obnoxiously macho and always include either a sports car or an egregious number of weapons. Sungwoon is positive that Jihoon didn’t buy this, which means that Sungwoon's first hypothesis is correct and someone gave this to Jihoon to _romance_ him. That’s alarming for many reasons, including the fact that it means Jihoon might be right. Is Sungwoon really so outdated that he missed the moment when people stopped making mix cds and started flirting via dating sim?

“Since Daniel-hyung gave it to me,” Jihoon replies, interrupting Sungwoon’s spiraling thoughts.

Well this answers the _‘why an otome game?’_ part of the question—it’s no secret that Daniel is an Otaku and he probably has a whole folder filled with these games on his computer—but it doesn’t explain why Jihoon has it.

“Daniel is in university.”

“And?”

“And why did a _university boy_ give you a dating game?” Sungwoon demands. Daniel might be a close friend, but Sungwoon has seen too many good people crumble to Daniel’s charms. He’ll be damned if he lets Daniel make his Jihoon his next target. “In fact, why are you even talking to him in the first place? Don’t you have same-age friends you can hang out with?”

“So because Daniel’s in university now we’re not allowed to talk?”

Sungwoon raises an eyebrow. He thought that much was obvious.

Jihoon groans. “Why are you like this? We still go to the same dance studio in case you forgot. Daniel made this for one of his classes and was looking for beta testers. That’s all.”

“Fine,” Sungwoon concedes, mostly because Jihoon is actually starting to look annoyed now and Sungwoon would prefer to avoid one of Jihoon's tantrums if he can. Hot-headedness runs in their family and if Jihoon is the type to lash out, Sungwoon is the type to escalate with sarcastic jibes, and these situations almost never turn out favorably for either of them.

Jihoon’s explanation makes sense, at least. Daniel has been whining all semester about the giant project he’s doing for his programming course, but Sungwoon had tuned him out after the first few complaints. As far as Sungwoon is concerned, it’s Daniel’s fault for being overeager and deciding to branch out beyond his major. Had Sungwoon realized this was what Daniel was working on he would’ve paid more attention though, because this is too hilarious not to mock.

“So did you actually play this thing?”

“Yeah, Woojin and I played through the different endings.” Jihoon pauses and then looks at Sungwoon with a deceptively sweet expression. “I actually think you’ll like it, hyung. There are lots of pretty boys to hold your attention.”

Sungwoon grabs Jihoon’s forgotten textbook and whacks him with it on the thigh. “You’re too young to know about things like that.”

Pretty boys aside, Sungwoon _is_ curious about Daniel’s game, so he hits ‘start’ and clicks through the introductory text. The game is surprisingly well made. Daniel is an art major, and even if his artistic style bears a bit too much anime influence for Sungwoon’s personal taste, he has to admit that the drawings in this game are gorgeous.

The storyline is fairly simple. Sungwoon doesn’t bother customizing his character and just plays as the default: a pretty girl named Yerin, who is starting her first day at a university that heavily resembles Sungwoon’s own. Yerin is an orphan, whose education is being financed by a mysterious benefactor on the bizarre condition that Yerin find a husband by the time she graduates. The game spans four years, or twelve different seasons, during which Yerin can find love.

“This premise is ridiculous,” Sungwoon says, but he dutifully clicks through the text menus as Yerin arrives at her dorm and unpacks.

By the end of her first day of classes, Sungwoon has successfully arranged a study date for Yerin with a preppy-looking boy in her Economics class. He’s cute, but Sungwoon thinks Yerin could do better.

“You should sign up for extracurriculars,” Jihoon advises. Following Sungwoon’s lead, Jihoon has abandoned his homework and pulled up another chair beside Sungwoon so he can watch.

At the activities fair, Yerin has the choice between joining the dance team, math club, or hiking club. Sungwoon chooses the dance team because it has the most potential for attractive boys (math club is too nerdy, while the hiking club is too dirty) and is given instructions to meet for practice at the dance studio downtown.

Yerin is waiting at the bus stop to catch a ride to practice when a second potential suitor pulls up on a motorbike. Sungwoon is excited by the possibility of bagging a hot bad boy for all of three seconds before the figure takes off his helmet.

“Hold up, is that _Seongwoo_?”

Jihoon’s unconcealed mirth is an answer in and of itself.

Game Seongwoo is trying very hard to be James Dean, and in Sungwoon’s opinion, he fails miserably. Probably because Sungwoon has personally witnessed the real Seongwoo crash his bicycle into a tree on his way to class. The idea of Seongwoo riding a motorbike ends up being hilarious in its absurdity rather than sexy.

 _“Can I give you a ride babe? Anywhere you want to go,"_  Seongwoo offers.

Sungwoon considers a moment, before hitting the button to accept because why the hell not? It’s an otome game after all; may as well be bold.

“Just so you know, this is not how you should go about getting dates in real life,” Sungwoon informs Jihoon.

Jihoon cocks his head. “Which part? Offering random girls a ride on your motorbike or getting your best friend to write you into his dating sim in the hope that it will help you score in real life?”

Sungwoon cackles loudly and holds out his fist, which Jihoon bumps with his own. Sungwoon loves his little brother.

If Sungwoon had thought Seongwoo would be the worst of it, he’s proven wrong moments later when Yerin enters the dance studio to the enthusiastic greeting of the dance team captain.

“Yah!” Sungwoon yells, nearly tipping over in his chair out of shock. “Who inserts themselves into their own dating sim?”

“Lots of people probably.” Jihoon shrugs.

Sungwoon shakes his head sadly. Daniel is truly the dorkiest fuckboy that’s ever existed.  

He clicks through the narrative as quickly as he can, but it seems to last forever. When it finally ends, Yerin has already given Game Daniel her phone number so he can 'pass along information about dance practices', and Sungwoon hasn’t gotten to select a single option.

Sungwoon is outraged. “This game is rigged.”

“Let’s stop playing and get food then,” Jihoon suggests, already jumping up.

“Alright.” Sungwoon isn’t hungry, but he’s been clicking through game menus for the past hour and could use the opportunity to stretch his legs.

“Great. You’re buying,” Jihoon sing-songs and waltzes out of the room, phone in hand.

*

Woojin’s toothy grin greets them when they arrive at the pizza place. Sungwoon doesn’t even know why he’s surprised; Jihoon had been typing furiously on his phone for the entire ten minutes it took to walk here, and it figures that he was rallying the troops.

“Hey Sungwoon-hyung, long time no see.”

“You think you can just ‘Hey Sungwoon-hyung’ me and expect free pizza?” Sungwoon gripes, but Woojin’s smile only widens, aware that it’s an empty complaint.

Sungwoon forks over cash to buy two family-size pizzas and sighs at how much lighter his wallet feels. It’s a bit ridiculous how often he finds himself buying things for his brother—Sungwoon definitely paid for his own shit when he was in high school—but apparently he’s a total sucker and Jihoon knows it.

“So Jihoon told me you’re playing the dating sim,” Woojin says once they sit down with the pizza.

Sungwoon nods and helps himself to a slice. “Yeah, but it’s disappointing. Jihoon promised cute boys, but so far I’ve only met fools. I’m not going to keep playing if my only choices are between Kang Daniel and Ong Seongwoo.”

Woojin laughs and turns to Jihoon. “Has he gotten to the café yet?”

Jihoon shakes his head, too busy stuffing his face to answer verbally.

“Hyung, just wait until you get the café,” Woojin says cryptically. “You might change your tune.”

*

This is how Sungwoon finds himself back at the computer, this time flanked by both Jihoon and Woojin. Woojin had accompanied them back to the house after lunch, though not before stopping at a bubble tea shop and scamming Sungwoon out of another hour’s worth of wages. He’ll have to find a second class to TA at this rate.

With their instruction, Sungwoon guides Yerin away from the tragic fuckboys that populate campus and towards a quiet café nearby. It’s only when Yerin approaches the barista that Sungwoon finally understands why Woojin told him to hold off on his judgment.

The barista, who is named Minhyun, is as handsome as a 2D character can reasonably be. Not all of Daniel’s drawings can be called masterpieces, but he really outdid himself this time. From his beautiful fox-like eyes to his sharp jawline to his skin that is literally _twinkling_ , every detail of Minhyun is simply stunning. If Sungwoon wasn’t sitting next to two very nosy high schoolers, he might even have taken a screenshot so he could set it as his wallpaper later, that’s how struck he is.

“Finally, that’s what I’m talking about!” Sungwoon cheers. Enough deadbeats, it’s about time that Yerin gets a decent suitor.

“Told you so,” Woojin says, sharing a smirk with Jihoon.

Minhyun smiles at Yerin and asks her for her order. It’s possible that Sungwoon has grown overconfident from the way that the other admirers fall over themselves to impress Yerin because he selects the flirtiest option without hesitation.

**> One tall hot barista to go please.**

Unexpectedly, Minhyun frowns at the line. _“I_ _am not on the menu. We’re very busy, so if you’ll excuse me I have a lot of work to do_ _.”_

The script ends abruptly and Sungwoon’s jaw drops in surprise. Beside him, Woojin and Jihoon simultaneously burst into laughter.

Sungwoon tries exiting and reentering the café, but Minhyun scowls when Yerin approaches him again. _“_ _We only serve real customers,_ _”_ he says. A clear dismissal.  

Sungwoon sits back in disbelief. “He rejected me.”

Jihoon snickers. “Did you really think that line would work?”

“It’s okay,” Woojin says, giving Sungwoon a consoling pat on the back. “Think of this as good practice for real life.”

“I can get dates just fine in real life,” Sungwoon retorts. He does want Yerin to end up with Minhyun though, so left with no other choice, he restarts the game.

Sungwoon skips classes this time and directs Yerin straight to the café. When Minhyun asks for Yerin’s order, Sungwoon aims for coy flirtatiousness instead.

**> Hmm I don’t know, why don’t you help me choose?**

_“_ _Customers who don’t know what they want are very burdensome,_ _”_ Minhyun says. Again, the script ends and Yerin can no longer interact with Minhyun in a meaningful way.

“This is so unfair,” Sungwoon whines. “The first good looking guy in the game and he keeps rejecting me.”

“Maybe it’s not meant to be,” Jihoon says.

Woojin nods earnestly. “Yeah. I mean, Jihoon and I finished Minhyun’s love route without much trouble, but we’re probably just better at this game than you are.”

That does it. He has to win Minhyun’s heart now.

Sungwoon is vaguely aware that Woojin and Jihoon are probably playing him—they’re both sweet kids when apart, but once together they become little devils incarnate—but he can’t help it. Sungwoon doesn’t know if he was born competitive or if it’s just a trait that developed from years of being dismissed as ‘small and harmless,’ but he never goes down without a fight. Plus, neither Jihoon nor Woojin has even been on a real date before, there’s no way they should have more game than him. Just wait, Sungwoon will get Minhyun to fall so hard that he won’t know what hit him.

With renewed determination, Sungwoon restarts the game for a second time.  

*

Sungwoon runs through eight cycles of gameplay before dinner, but makes very little progress towards winning Minhyun’s love. Woojin and Jihoon grow bored after the third failed attempt and leave, no doubt to go wreak havoc somewhere, but Sungwoon isn’t a quitter.

The trick to getting past the hurdle of their first conversation is to simply have Yerin order a drink from Minhyun like a normal customer. It doesn’t result in anything at first, but if Yerin continues the same pattern for a few weeks, Autumn will fade into Winter and eventually a ‘help wanted’ sign will appear on the bulletin board. Sungwoon is then able to get Yerin a part time job at the café.

Sungwoon had hoped this would be the catalyst to an epic romance with Minhyun, but Yerin’s job turns out to be mainly janitorial. He gets stuck in the friend route a few times after trying too hard to have Yerin chat Minhyun up during her breaks (the key to avoiding the friend route is to ignore Minhyun whenever he brings up the 'Transformers' movies), and the bad route once, when Yerin neglects her work responsibilities for too long and Minhyun fires her.

“You’re so cold, Minhyunnie,” Sungwoon wails, burying his face in his hands.

Minhyun stares impassively back at him.

So far, Sungwoon’s deduced that Minhyun values hard work. He’s had the best luck when Yerin keeps herself busy during her shift at the café. If he selects **> keep cleaning ** during her work break, Minhyun will smile and comment on how shiny the tabletops look. It's nice, but it’s nothing approximating a date. Sungwoon just hopes that Minhyun isn’t one of those sexist types who only wants a housewife to cook and clean for him because Yerin deserves better than that.

Sungwoon is forced to stop playing to eat dinner with his family, which is probably for the best. He’s got a slew of exams and term papers due in the next two weeks, and yet he spent the entire weekend goofing off.   

He’s in the middle of shoving his mostly untouched books into his backpack—not as easy as it sounds since Sungwoon’s padded the bottom of the bag with about twenty ramen packets—when Jihoon hands him a flash drive.

“Here, hyung. You can take the game with you since you like it so much.”

“Lies and slander,” Sungwoon replies, but he pockets the flash drive anyway.

*

Sungwoon forgets about the game until the following evening when he’s fishing through his jeans pockets for his wallet and pulls out the flash drive instead.

He’s planning to meet up with some friends at the movies—they’re seeing some horror flick that Sungwoon has no active interest in—but playing the otome game is a tempting alternative. The movie is a whole two hours long, and if Sungwoon stays home to play this game he’ll still get the study break he craves _and_ have time to do his laundry.

Mind made up, Sungwoon shoots off a quick text to the group, and flops down on the couch with his laptop.

What Sungwoon had intended to be a mere twenty-minute break, however, somehow turns into a couple of hours. Minhyun doesn’t appreciate Yerin’s romantic advances, nor will he initiate anything, and Sungwoon is practically pulling out his hair in frustration as he tries to figure out the correct sequence of steps to unlock Minhyun’s marriage ending. Sungwoon attempted to flirt with the other suitors to see if that would trigger anything (maybe Minhyun is the jealous type), but apparently, that defaults to the friend route, because Minhyun would 'never want to interfere with someone else’s relationship'. Which great, he’s a freaking gentleman on top of all that; as if Minhyun wasn’t perfect enough already. 

When Taehyun returns several hours later, Sungwoon is still on the couch in his pajamas, hunched in front of his laptop and wearing out the trackpad due to his constant clicking.

“I can’t believe you ditched us to watch porn,” Taehyun accuses, as he kicks off his shoes. “You’re the worst kind of bro.”

“I’m the best kind of bro,” Sungwoon corrects, “and it’s not porn, it’s a game.”

“Well whatever, you missed out. Yoonsan tried to deck Hojung after he jumped so bad that he dropped the popcorn bucket on the floor. Lucky Hojung’s quick.”

“Wild,” Sungwoon replies, without taking his eyes off the screen. It’s not that he doesn’t care, but for the first time tonight, he’s making real progress in the game. Spring has finally arrived at the university, and with that comes the option to ask Minhyun for barista lessons. Sungwoon doesn’t want to screw this up.

Annoyed at the dismissal, Taehyun walks over to get a better look at what Sungwoon's doing. “What the hell! My little sister plays this type of game.”

“This is a game that is fun for all ages,” Sungwoon deadpans. If it were anyone else, Sungwoon would probably be slightly embarrassed, but he and Taehyun have known each other for so long that there are no secrets between them anymore.

“Man, I’ve been telling you that you need to go on more dates, but I didn’t mean like this,” Taehyun sighs and walks to the kitchen to rummage around in their fridge. He returns with two beers, handing one to Sungwoon and plunking down on the couch beside him. “Honestly this might be even sadder than ditching us for porn.”

Despite Taehyun’s words, he sticks around to alternately give advice and mock Seongwoo and Daniel like any good bro would, and they play until they start to doze off and call it a night.

*

“You look tired,” Daniel says in lieu of greeting, as he scoots into the empty seat across from Sungwoon. 

Sungwoon is eating lunch and trying to cram some last minute studying in for his quiz next period. It’s most likely a lost cause though, because as he thumbs through the reading, it becomes increasingly clear to him that he knows absolutely nothing about European governmental systems and it’s too late to learn it all. Of course, he had planned to study last night, but as is often the case these days, he’d lost track of time while playing the otome game. 

As it turns out, barista lessons with Minhyun mainly consist of Minhyun testing Yerin on random coffee trivia. Sungwoon had spent a whole night with Wikipedia open as he’d tried to pass Minhyun’s pop quizzes— and consequently neglecting his own, far more important one— but the questions never stopped coming. It feels a lot like another dead end. 

So when Daniel tells him he looks tired, Sungwoon only levels him with his best death glare, because Daniel is at least 80% to blame for that fact. 

“Your game is terrible.”

Daniel is unfazed, clearly used to Sungwoon’s bullying by now. If anything, his smile grows.

“Oh yeah, Jihoon told me you had been playing my game. Pretty awesome huh?  I’m thinking about taking it out to game developers. ” 

“What part of ‘terrible’ do you not understand?”

“Come on, it’s not _that_ bad.”

Sungwoon glowers. “Nine times out of ten, Yerin gets stuck marrying you. What’s even the point in having options to choose from if you just end up with the same result every time?”

It’s true too. Unfortunately, the game requires that Yerin do more than just linger in the café, and Sungwoon is forced to converse with the other characters to play out the day. On multiple occasions, he’s accidentally found himself on a love route for one of the other suitors, and it’s laughably easy to end up with Daniel, even when Sungwoon isn’t trying to. So far, Yerin has gotten hitched to Daniel nine times, Seongwoo thrice, as well as once each to the cute econ student, the captain of the hiking club, and bizarrely enough, to the vice principal. Yet he can’t even get Minhyun to ask Yerin out on a date, let alone propose. 

“That’s not fair,” Daniel says with a pout. “I can’t help it that I’m irresistible. Anyway, it clearly doesn't matter since you’re still playing it.” 

“Not to end up with you!”

Sungwoon regrets his words immediately when Daniel’s expression shifts from forlorn puppy to the cat that caught the canary. 

“Who are you hoping to end up with then?”

“No one. I was just playing to kill time.”

Daniel hums and gives him a considering look. “I don’t know, you do seem awfully invested in this game. One might assume that you’re using it as a substitute for dating in real life.”

“No,” Sungwoon says, pointing his chopsticks at Daniel for emphasis. “Don’t you dare try to set me up another blind date.”

“I’m just looking out for you, hyung.” 

Sungwoon believes it, but that doesn’t mean he wants Daniel’s help. The first and last time that Sungwoon had gone on a blind date courtesy of Daniel was two months ago and it had been an abject disaster. Sungwoon hadn’t even agreed to the date, Daniel had simply accosted him after class and informed him of the time and place that evening. As much as he wanted to, Sungwoon felt too guilty to stand the other person up.

His trepidation was mitigated slightly when he arrived at the restaurant to see Minki already seated at the table; they shared a class last semester and Minki had always seemed friendly during the few interactions they’d had. Minki, however, clearly didn’t feel the same way, and the way that Minki’s expectant smile morphed into a pained grimace when he saw him will forever be ingrained in Sungwoon’s mind. What ensued was one of the most painfully awkward dinners of Sungwoon’s life. To his credit, Minki tried to keep things light, and even texted Sungwoon the following day to ask him to meet for coffee, but Sungwoon couldn’t shake the awful feeling he'd gotten after those first few seconds. Sungwoon did them both a favor by politely declining the invitation, and that’s the last time they’d spoken. He’s really not looking to repeat that experience. 

Plus, it’s not like Sungwoon has time for dates anyway, what with exams looming and Minhyun occupying all his extra time.

“Appreciated, but unnecessary,” Sungwoon tells him. 

Daniel lets out a deep sigh. “You’re so cute, hyung. I don’t know why you haven’t found someone yet.”   
  
“First, I’m not cute. Second, just because you’re a hoe doesn’t mean I need to be,” Daniel makes a noise of protest, but Sungwoon barrels on, “And third, can everyone stop worrying about my love life? I’m perfectly capable of arranging my own dates.”

“No fun,” Daniel grumbles. “If you’re not going to let me set you up at least tell me which character you’re stuck on.”

“And give you more reasons to harass me? No thanks.”

“It’s in beta, I need _feedback_.”

Sungwoon thinks about it. Daniel is like a dog with a bone, and it's obvious that he’s not planning to leave until he pries the information from Sungwoon. The sooner he goes the sooner Sungwoon can return to his notes. “Fine, but only if you leave me in peace after this.” 

Daniel nods eagerly. 

“It’s Minhyun, from the café.”

“Minhyun!” Daniel crows, looking far too delighted at this. “Why didn’t I think of him sooner? He’s totally your type.”

“Great, but Daniel I’m actually going to fail this quiz if I don't study. Can you save the mocking for another day?” 

Sungwoon must look as stressed out as he feels because Daniel relents for once. He stands up and gives Sungwoon a friendly salute.

“You got it, hyung. We’ll talk after your exams. Don’t forget to caffeinate while you procrastinate!” Daniel chuckles at his own joke and leaves with a noticeable bounce in his step. What a weird kid. 

*

By the end of the week, Sungwoon is no closer to getting Yerin a date with Minhyun, but he is looking a lot closer to failing his exams. His quiz, predictably, did not go well, and Sungwoon is forced to face the fact that it's time to buckle down and get his shit together. He’s gotten straight A’s every semester through sheer hard work, and he refuses to flunk his classes for the first time because of an _otome game_ of all things. How would he ever look his grandpa in the eye again?

Sungwoon isn’t even entirely sure how he let this obsession develop in the first place, but it’s undeniable that it’s taken over his life.

When he’s feeling bitter and frustrated—by all the failed attempts and hours wasted with not even a date to show for it—he’ll claim that his addiction to the game is just a form of procrastination and a product of the fact that he’s finally found a game that he’s not good at.

When he’s feeling more positive about the game though—like when Minhyun smiles or that one memorable time when Minhyun dusted the shelves while wearing a frilly French maid’s apron—Sungwoon will admit that his preoccupation with the game goes far deeper than that. It’s gone beyond his competitive streak now, to where, when Minhyun rejects Yerin and closes off, Sungwoon finds himself mulling over what sorts of things would make Minhyun tick. During lecture, his mind will wander to Minhyun unexpectedly, and Sungwoon will wonder, if he wasn’t given only one chance and forced to follow a script, would he be able to talk Minhyun around? Then he realizes that he’s spending far too much energy thinking about a fictional character and quickly tries to refocus on the professor.

His friends may have had a point when they said that Sungwoon has been single for too long.  

*

It’s with the growing feeling of dread that Sungwoon finally packs up his textbooks and leaves his laptop and phone at home. His usual study habits involve cocooning himself in blankets and not leaving his couch/bed for days, but that was back when he still had self-restraint. The new plan is to sit somewhere free of distractions for several hours and not leave until he’s reviewed at least five chapters for International Law.

He walks into Café Energetic without any expectations. It’s a café that is popular with students due to its close proximity to campus and ample study space, but Sungwoon hasn’t ever bothered to try it.

In fact, Sungwoon almost never drinks coffee. He doesn’t care for the bitter taste, not to mention that Taehyun has (accurately) complained that Sungwoon is hyper enough without any additional caffeine boost. The combination of late nights spent gaming, which turn into even later nights spent stressing over the assignments he neglected, has left Sungwoon feeling completely drained, however, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

There are a few customers ahead of him in line so Sungwoon spends his time contemplating the menu, wondering which drink would taste the least terrible, while still giving him a much-needed caffeine boost.

“What can I get for you today?” A smooth, deep voice interrupts Sungwoon’s deliberations and Sungwoon belatedly realizes it’s his turn to order.

Sungwoon turns towards the barista and his words promptly die on his tongue. He blinks rapidly, wondering if he’s actually so sleep deprived that he’s started hallucinating, but the figure in front of him doesn’t waver. Yup, that’s definitely Minhyun standing before him; his nametag even confirms it.

“Sir? Can I get you started with anything?” An apparently _real_ Minhyun asks, concerned, and that’s new. Game Minhyun has never shown concern for Yerin.

Sungwoon pinches himself on the arm just to be sure. It hurts, so it’s not a dream either. Which means that Sungwoon has been standing in front of Minhyun for the past thirty seconds gaping like a goldfish.

“You’re not supposed to be real,” Sungwoon finally stutters out and immediately flushes. He definitely didn’t mean to say that.

“I’m not?” Minhyun asks, amused.

“Sorry,” Sungwoon apologizes and wracks his brain for an excuse that won’t implicate Sungwoon and his shameful gaming habits. “I got you confused with someone else for a moment. Of course, _you’re_ very real.”

“Well that’s reassuring,” Minhyun replies with a chuckle. He’s got a beautiful smile, Sungwoon notes. Game Minhyun always wears the same bland yet perfect customer service smile, but when this Minhyun smiles his cheeks bunch up and his right eye narrows a little more than the left one. It’s very cute.

The woman standing behind him in line doesn’t find Sungwoon's foolishness nearly as entertaining as Minhyun does though, and lets out an impatient sigh.

“I’ll have a large cappuccino,” Sungwoon says hastily, and Minhyun dutifully picks up a cup to mark down his order. Sungwoon trips over his own name when Minhyun asks for it, and then literally trips over his own feet when he walks away, before realizing he forgot to pay.

“Awesome first impression, idiot,” Sungwoon mutters to himself as he leaves the cash register for a second time, this time actually having paid. He waits at the pickup counter while Minhyun finishes up with the other customer and then starts on Sungwoon’s drink. Now that Sungwoon’s put some safe distance between them, he’s able to take in Minhyun properly.

He’s tall, Sungwoon observes. In the otome game Sungwoon hadn’t even thought about height, but Minhyun towers over him, which yeah, that’s attractive. He’s also just generally dazzling? The sparkle effects no longer seem like artistic indulgence now that Sungwoon sees him in person. Even the way Minhyun _moves_ is attractive, and with his broad shoulders and slim waist, Minhyun looks like he belongs on a runway rather than working an espresso machine.

“Here you go, Sungwoon.” Minhyun sets a steaming cup on the counter, and Sungwoon’s heart feels like it might hammer it's way out of his chest because the way Minhyun said Sungwoon’s name sounded almost _affectionate_? Minhyun must rake in tons of tips if he says everyone's name like that.

“Thanks,” Sungwoon mumbles, grabbing the drink and bolting. It’s not smooth, but up until about ten minutes ago, Sungwoon was having a crisis over a 2D version of Minhyun. He really isn’t equipped to deal with the living, breathing, smiling, very much _real_ version of Minhyun.

He hightails it to the far corner of the café where there is an empty table partially obscured by a potted palm tree. Hopefully, he can hide behind it and have his meltdown in at least partial privacy.

Sungwoon does _try_ to get work done, but in fairness, Minhyun is extremely distracting. There seems to be a lull in traffic and Minhyun has moved out from behind the counter to polish the pastry display windows, which puts him directly in Sungwoon’s line of sight. The task involves a frankly unnecessary amount of bending over, and Sungwoon has to use every ounce of his willpower to focus on the text in front of him.

The universe is apparently conspiring against Sungwoon and his productivity today, however, because not even ten minutes later, a very familiar figure enters the café. It’s Minki, of all people, who isn’t just a coffee enthusiast but also turns out to be Minhyun's friend.

Sungwoon shrinks farther into his seat and peers through the palm fronds to observe their conversation. The leaves don’t provide enough cover, however, because a few seconds after Minki starts talking to Minhyun, he turns around and makes direct eye contact with Sungwoon. Busted. 

Although he can’t hear them, Sungwoon can tell from their behavior that they're definitely talking about him. Minki is shaking his head in disappointment while Minhyun looks vaguely embarrassed and keeps shooting glances at Sungwoon that are probably intended to be subtle, but in reality, are anything but that. No doubt Minki’s recalling the awful date he had with Sungwoon, and the reason Minhyun keeps looking over at him is that he pities him, and honestly fuck this. Once was bad enough, but Sungwoon doesn’t need to relive his humiliation in front of an audience.

With that, Sungwoon packs up his books, pops the lid back on his coffee, and marches past Minki and Minhyun with as much dignity has he can muster (which is very little) and out the door.

*

“You're a dead man walking, Kang Daniel,” Sungwoon says without preamble. He’d forgone studying to head straight back to his apartment so he could grab his phone and call Daniel. “How could you not tell me that Minhyun was a real person?”

Daniel’s laughter echoes in Sungwoon’s ear. “Honestly, I thought you would’ve figured it out by now, hyung. Seongwoo and I were both in the game after all.”

“Yeah, but—” Sungwoon wracks his brain for a defense. Daniel has a point, and maybe if Sungwoon’s mind hadn’t been so clouded by infatuation he’d have realized that sooner. The only real excuse Sungwoon has is that Minhyun seemed far too ideal to be a real person. “—aren’t you supposed to be an artist?”

“I am, but drawing from reference is faster. It’s pretty time-consuming so I just used people I knew,” Daniel says. He’s so nonchalant about it, entirely unaware of how he is directly responsible for Sungwoon’s whole life metaphorically going up in flames. “I would’ve asked you too, hyung, but Yerin is supposed to be 170cm.” There Daniel goes, laughing at his own joke again.

Sungwoon groans. “I take back every nice thing I ever thought about you and your art. Goodbye.”

“You should ask him out!” Daniel calls between breathless giggles before Sungwoon hangs up.

Sungwoon tosses his phone on his bed and grabs his laptop. He knows he’ll pay for it tomorrow, but he’s way too worked up to focus right now anyway.

It’s out of habit that Sungwoon opens the game again. For the past week, it’s been the first thing he does when he gets home, and today is apparently not the day he breaks that pattern.

He only plays for about five minutes before he gives up and quits the game though. The fact that his entire aim is to try and wrangle a marriage proposal from Minhyun just feels too creepy now that he knows Minhyun is based on a real person.

Even assuming that Minhyun agreed to be in the game and accounting for some character inaccuracies (Seongwoo isn’t nearly as cool in real life after all), Sungwoon still probably knows far more about Minhyun than Minhyun would ever feel comfortable with a stranger knowing.

The main reason it feels wrong though, is because Sungwoon has finally admitted to himself that it’s not just a game for him anymore. He really does want to date Minhyun. The _real_ one.

*

Sungwoon is facing a dilemma. 

He has valiantly resisted playing the otome game for a whole thirty-two hours (a personal record), but weirdly, pathetically, he misses Minhyun. 

On one hand, he could solve that by returning to the café and seeing Minhyun. On the other hand, if he goes to the café, there’s a good chance he’ll have to actually _talk_ to Minhyun and last time that didn’t go so well. Also, there is a chance Minhyun will remember Sungwoon as the sad loser who is a terrible date and who tries to skip out on paying for his coffee. 

Sungwoon articulates this impossible situation as best as he can to Jisung while they’re sitting in the library. 

He’s decided to go to Jisung for help for two reasons: 1) Jisung doesn’t know Minhyun so it’s doubtful that this will get back to him, and 2) unlike his other friends (*cough* Taehyun *cough*), Jisung won’t mock Sungwoon for seeking romantic advice. Probably. 

“I thought you asked me to meet you here because you wanted to study together, but all you’ve done for the past twenty minutes is talk about this Minhyun guy.”

“I’m having a crisis, hyung, how do you expect me to focus on—” Sungwoon flips his book closed so he can read the title, “—‘Globalization and its Discontents’ right now?” 

Jisung sighs. “Honestly, I don’t see what the problem is. If you like him, ask him out.”

“I can’t just _ask him out_ ,” Sungwoon squawks. 

“Why not? Don’t tell me that Mr. Friends-With-Everyone-On-Campus is _too shy_ to ask someone for coffee.” 

Sungwoon wrinkles his nose. “He’s a barista, hyung. Taking him out for coffee would be like taking him to work. Also, I’m not _shy_ , I’m just out of practice.”

Jisung laughs and pats Sungwoon on the head like he’s a cute puppy and not a grown adult man. “You’ll do fine. He’d have to be a fool to turn down a date with you.”

It’s a totally unfounded and inaccurate claim, but the encouragement still makes Sungwoon feel a little better. If only all his friends were more like Jisung. 

*

In the end, Sungwoon decides to leave it to fate. 

He’ll go to the café and if Minhyun is there, he’ll ask him out. If not, he’ll take that as a sign from the universe that it’s not meant to be.

Okay, maybe Sungwoon is cheating fate a little bit because he’s going to the café on a Saturday night, and there is a very slim chance that Minhyun will be working such a late shift, but he’s nervous, okay? It would be so much easier to not have to face Minhyun’s inevitable rejection, and at least this way he can say that he tried. 

It’s a good thing that Sungwoon isn’t a professional gambler, because the moment Sungwoon enters the café, Minhyun pops up from behind the counter, the jingling bell on the door having alerted him to a new customer. 

“Oh, Sungwoon! Hello again,” Minhyun greets him cheerfully. Sungwoon blushes. It seems his embarrassing behavior the other day left an impression. “Coming for a late night pick me up?”

Sungwoon totally intends to say something suave, but now that he’s face-to-face with Minhyun all his bravado has suddenly vanished. 

“Uh yeah, I have a lot of studying to do,” Sungwoon says instead, and then internally winces at how cold he sounds.  

Nevertheless, Minhyun continues to smile at Sungwoon as he stumbles through his order. He decides to skip the coffee since the caffeine only made him anxious last time, and asks for tea instead. He also orders a pastry lest Minhyun think he’s a cheapskate. 

“I’m Minhyun, by the way,” Minhyun says unprompted when he hands Sungwoon back his change. It would've been unnecessary even if Sungwoon didn’t already know him from the game because he's wearing a name tag, but if Minhyun wants to be on a first-name basis with Sungwoon, he’s not about to complain. 

“It’s nice to meet you." Now would be an ideal time for Sungwoon to get over his sudden shyness and start a real conversation with Minhyun, but he hesitates for too long and Minhyun returns with his drink and snack before Sungwoon can figure out what else to say. 

With his metaphorical tail tucked in between his legs, Sungwoon retreats to the same corner he sat in last time. It’s a lot less busy than two days ago and Minhyun seems to be the only employee working tonight. Since he told Minhyun that he has a lot of studying to do, he actually needs to put on a show and do it. Luckily, Sungwoon came prepared. 

Sungwoon pulls out his books and then picks up his drink to take a sip when he notices a cute doodle next to his name. It’s a simple heart with a smiley face in it, and even though Minhyun probably just doodled it because he was bored due to the lack of other customers, it’s still the most romantic gesture Sungwoon has received in the past several months. Smiling, Sungwoon takes a discreet picture of it with his phone, before he puts in his headphones and starts to read.

*

For the first time all week, Sungwoon has an actual properly productive study session. It’s kind of ironic, considering that the source of his distractions is a mere ten meters away, but Sungwoon attributes his newly rediscovered focusing abilities to the peaceful atmosphere of the café at night. 

He so caught up in his work, that he doesn’t even realize two hours have passed until Minhyun starts stacking the chairs next to him.

“We’re closing up,” Minhyun tells him regretfully when Sungwoon pulls out his headphones. Most of the rest of the café has emptied out already. “You seemed like you were studying really hard so I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Oops, I didn’t realize.” Sungwoon stands up and begins to pack up his belongings. It turns out that he’s a messy eater when he’s focused on another task because there are pastry flakes all over his workspace. Sungwoon uses his hand to scoop the crumbs back onto the plate, but does a poor job of it because Minhyun comes up beside him and wipes down the table with a rag. 

“Sorry, I know you don’t like mess,” Sungwoon says without thinking and immediately wants to kick himself. It’s a dumb thing to say since Minhyun is probably required to wipe down every table anyway, and Sungwoon also definitely isn’t supposed to know that little detail about him. 

“How’d you guess?” Minhyun asks, surprised. 

“You just seem like the type of person who would want things to be in order?”

To Sungwoon’s horror, Minhyun frowns at his answer. Minhyun continues to scrub at the table in silence while Sungwoon internally freaks out. Has he pissed off Minhyun somehow? He thought he was being complimentary. Only when the table is literally gleaming does Minhyun set the rag down and turn to Sungwoon. “I’m not uptight you know.”

Well that came out of left field. “Um, that’s good to know?” Sungwoon says uncertainly.

“You're right. I like things clean, but that doesn’t mean I’m uptight or a stick in the mud or anything. I like talking to people. I like to have fun with my friends.” Minhyun wears a pinched expression as he speaks and the tightness around Minhyun’s eyes makes Sungwoon wonder how many people have assumed those very things about him in the past. 

“Okay. For the record, I never thought you were.” 

Minhyun doesn’t look convinced. “Really. Because I’ve seen you around campus before and you’re friendly to literally _everyone_ , but you won’t even look me in the eye. Did I do something to offend you?”

Sungwoon gapes. It’s impossible that Minhyun has missed Sungwoon’s massive, embarrassing, practically debilitating crush on him right? And yet Minhyun is completely oblivious and somehow misread Sungwoon’s awkwardness as standoffishness, and that’s ten times worse. Sungwoon would rather Minhyun know he’s a huge loser than think that Sungwoon hates him. 

“It’s not that!” Sungwoon assures hastily. “I’ve actually seen you before too, but in a dating sim? My little brother was playing it, but yeah. I guess that’s why I was acting weird.”

“Oh God, you saw that?” Minhyun's expression switches from one of hurt to one of embarrassment and he actually face-palms. At least they can be mortified together. “I told Daniel he could draw me for his game, but I thought it was just for an assignment. I didn’t think he was going to _show_ it to people.”

“Uh yeah, he said he needed beta testers, but if it’s any consolation you came out well? Like if I _were_ to play the game, I would definitely want to marry you,” and honestly why is Sungwoon still talking? “Hypothetically, I mean. Because you seem like a good guy.”

Now would be the perfect time for the ground to open up and swallow him. Thankfully all the other customers have left, so there is no one else to witness Sungwoon’s social ineptitude. And Minhyun is smiling again. Small mercies and all of that.

“That’s a relief to hear,” Minhyun says and then honest to God, _giggles_.

It’s absurdly cute, and Sungwoon desperately wants to hear that sound again. It's this that makes Sungwoon finally, inwardly say 'fuck it'. He likes  Minhyun, and Sungwoon assumes from Daniel’s encouragement, that Minhyun is probably single and willing to date men. Sungwoon has never been one to miss out on even a sliver of an opportunity no matter if the odds are stacked against him, and if he doesn’t at least _try_ there’s no way he’ll ever be able to move on. 

“Yeah, um, actually it made me want to meet you in real life.” 

Minhyun’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “You wanted to meet me?”

Sungwoon steels himself. On the plus side, Minhyun probably gets asked out by customers on a daily basis, so he’ll most likely reject Sungwoon with grace. 

“Well yeah, I mean in theory. Obviously, I didn’t know you were real, but,” Sungwoon takes a deep breath and then exhales his next sentence in a rush, “since you are, do you want to go get dinner sometime?”

There. It’s not the smoothest confession, but at least he said it. 

Sungwoon’s waiting for the pitying smile and apology to follow, but to his sheer and utter shock, Minhyun beams at him.

“Okay. I’d love that,” Minhyun replies, enthusiastically.

“Wait, what?” The otome game had prepared Sungwoon for every version of rejection, but never the possibility that Minhyun would actually _agree_ to a date. “You weren’t supposed to say yes.”

“Did you want me to say no?”

“No! No, it’s not that. It’s just you’ve never said yes before, in the game I mean. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Oh,” Minhyun says, visibly relieved. “Yeah, that was part of my agreement with Daniel actually. I told him he could include me in the game on the condition that the main character couldn’t actually marry me. It just felt too weird.”

“What the fuck,” Sungwoon says, giving up all pretense that he wasn’t the one playing the game the whole time. “Do you know how many countless hours I wasted trying to win your affection? And you’re telling me it was impossible all along?”

Minhyun gives him a guilty smile and reaches out to grasp Sungwoon’s hand with his own. “Well not exactly _impossible_.” 

It’s a horribly cheesy thing to say, and it makes Sungwoon’s insides feel like they’re on fire. He’s still going to murder Jihoon and Woojin next time he sees them though. 

“Are you always this corny?” Sungwoon mutters and ducks his head. He can feel his ears burning. 

“Yup,” Minhyun says unapologetically, swinging their linked hands. “So you better get used to it.”

“I’d never thought I’d say this, but I want Game Minhyun back. This version is so sappy, it’s unrealistic.” 

It’s not that funny (or even really a joke; Sungwoon isn't sure he believes anything that has happened in the past few minutes), but Minhyun laughs as though Sungwoon is a comedian who is performing the best stand-up routine of his career. Sungwoon hides his grin. Minhyun must like him a lot if he's willing to laugh at Sungwoon's dumb remarks, and that knowledge makes the butterflies in his stomach finally settle down. 

“Daniel tells me you’re all bark and no bite, so I’m not inclined to believe you,” Minhyun teases back.

That’s... unexpected. “You’ve been talking about me?” 

“Kind of,” Minhyun confesses, and Sungwoon watches in fascination as a pink flush spreads across Minhyun’s cheeks. “I’ve actually liked you for a while now, since I saw you at that dance showcase this past Fall. I came to watch my friends, but it was so cute how enthusiastically you were cheering for your brother, that I ended up watching you half the time. Afterwards, I asked Daniel who you were.” 

Sungwoon remembers that night. Jihoon had been so embarrassed by Sungwoon’s exuberance, but also, even though Sungwoon knows his brother would never admit it, secretly pleased. He also remembers that this took place in September, which means that Minhyun has been interested in him for a whole three months and no one thought to inform Sungwoon or even introduce them.

“You did? But you never introduced yourself or asked me out or anything.” Sungwoon would definitely have remembered if they had met.  

“I was going to!” Minhyun defends. “I would’ve talked to you if you stopped by the café, only you never came until this week, and every time I saw you around campus, you were either in a rush or surrounded by people, so it never seemed like a good time. Plus, I didn’t even know if you were interested in men until Minki went on a date with you.” 

“Wait, are you the reason why Minki asked me out for coffee the next day?” Sungwoon had been annoyed at the time, but now it makes sense. Minki wasn’t trying to prolong Sungwoon's humiliation, he had just wanted to introduce him to Minhyun. 

Minhyun nods, sheepishly. “Yeah, I actually called him here the other day too, for moral support. He was telling me to get my self together when you walked out. It’s okay though because I had a plan.”

“You had a plan,” Sungwoon repeats, dubious.  

“Yes. I was going to woo you through cute drawings on coffee cups until you eventually fell for me.”

Sungwoon laughs out loud, he can’t help it. That is simultaneously the cutest and dumbest idea he has ever heard. Minhyun might be even more of a misguided romantic than Sungwoon.

“And what if I only came in the one time?” Sungwoon teases.

“I make excellent coffee,” Minhyun says confidently, and pulls Sungwoon closer so that Sungwoon has to crane his neck to maintain eye contact. 

“That is a terrible plan. I don’t even like coffee.”

“And yet you came back,” Minhyun says with a smug grin. “Clearly, it worked.” 

"That was before you even drew anything," Sungwoon says, but he doesn't try to suppress his smile because Minhyun looks so proud of himself and it's adorable. 

Sungwoon will admit that it was Minhyun's well-spoken, professional, and generally flawless character that first caught Sungwoon's attention in the game. Now that he’s actually met Minhyun, he’s learned that Minhyun is all those things and so much more. The real Minhyun is also dorky, warm-hearted, loves a good romantic cliché, and most importantly, is someone that Sungwoon knows he could fall head over heels for one day.

It occurs to Sungwoon just then that they’re standing close enough together that if he got on his tiptoes he could kiss Minhyun. So he does.

*

“Hey, sorry about the game, hyung,” Woojin apologizes the next time he sees Sungwoon, which as it turns out, is over lunch with Jihoon again.

Jihoon had been the one to reach out to Sungwoon for a change, claiming that his allowance was running low and he needed someone to buy food for him so he didn’t starve to death. In other words, Jihoon missed him. Sungwoon will admit that he’s been absent lately; most of his time is occupied by his new boyfriend, but who can blame him? Minhyun is a catch.

Jihoon nods. “We were just messing with you, hyung, but we didn’t think you’d get so serious about it and waste all your time.”

“Oh, but I won though?” Sungwoon says innocently. “I got a date with Minhyun in the end.”

“Stop lying,” Jihoon commands, and it's amazing how quickly his tone switches from apology to outrage.

“It’s impossible,” Woojin agrees. “The farthest you can get on Minhyun's love route is barista training, and then you just get stuck in an endless loop of coffee trivia. Daniel even confirmed it.”

Sungwoon just smiles mysteriously.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” a voice interrupts. Sungwoon turns to see Minhyun, who leans down and presses a quick kiss against Sungwoon’s lips.

The matching dumbfounded expressions on Jihoon and Woojin's faces when they pull apart makes up for every minute Sungwoon squandered on that dumb game. 

Jihoon turns to Woojin in disbelief. "Did you just see what I saw?" 

Woojin nods slowly, still in shock, and Sungwoon and Minhyun share a grin. 

“Jihoon, Woojin, there is someone I’d like you both to meet. This is Minhyun.”

He may not have gotten Yerin her dream wedding in the end, but Sungwoon did land himself a boyfriend, and he feels pretty damn victorious.

**Author's Note:**

> this was a lot of sungwoon blathering on and not nearly enough romancing, so if you made it to the end in spite of all of that, i applaud you. thanks for reading ♡♡♡


End file.
